A mother of a boy who developed anorexia at the age of eight has launched a campaign to tackle the disorder’s cause in youngsters.

Susannah Hebdon Moore, 43, from Epsom, had anorexia herself when she was younger and said she still has a "residual eating disorder" today.

Because she had suffered from anorexia, she was able to spot the signs in her son 10-year-old James (not his real name), when he started cutting many food types out of his diet and exercising excessively.

Mrs Hebdon Moore said: "My son spent a good majority of last year dealing with early onset anorexia.

"It’s not something I thought I would have to re-visit with my son but it happens.

"He had my genes. But he felt an awful lot of pressure at school. He felt he wasn’t achieving.

"With anorexia, boys usually start to build themselves up and became very muscley and over-exercising which becomes obsessional behaviour.

"This nine-year-old was doing pull-ups and push-ups and lifting weights and if we intervened all hell broke loose."

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A photo of Mrs Hebdon Moore taken while she was suffering from anorexia

Mrs Hebdon Moore said her son is now much better, thanks to a mixture of therapy, advice from dieticians, and the help the family received from a nearby eating disorder clinic.

Following her son’s battle, she has launched Body Marvellous - a campaign to raise awareness of childhood anorexia.

She has already written articles on the subject and would like to hold workshops in schools for parents and teachers.

"Low self-esteem is so prevalent these days in our youngsters because of high expectations," she said.

"The issue is social media, the celebrity culture.  It contributes to a chronic lack of low self-esteem.

"But healthy diets and food presented as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ can cause real damage too.

"Children come away from school with this idea that some food is bad and they should therefore never eat it.

"My son started cutting out whole food groups.

"Parents and teachers need to know what’s going on."

Mrs Hebdon Moore said the food revolution which has taken place in school canteens in the last decade may have gone too far into unintended territory and stressed that schools "need to teach moderation in all things".

"Healthy eating in schools has gone almost completely the other way," she said. 

"Children develop these issues with not eating and end up with eating disorders.

"My son picked up from school that eating fats and sugar was bad so he cut it out completely.

"He was so restrictive in what he would eat.

"I know for a fact other parents feel schools need to know what they are teaching the children is not necessarily helpful."

For more information about Mrs Hebdon Moore's campaign visit www.bodymarvellous.com.